Quantum mechanics from scratch
MSI Colloquium, where the school comes together for afternoon tea before one speaker gives an accessible talk on their subject
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Description
Abstract:
In classical mechanics, ‘states’ and ‘observables’ may be thought of as probability measures and measurable functions on a given measurable space (the phase space), respectively. Starting from the observation that measures and measurable functions are defined in terms of measurable sets, we outline how the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is obtained by simply replacing the role of measurable sets by orthogonal projections in these definitions. This leads to an interesting perspective on a number of rather elusive issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics, including the problem of defining ‘phase’ and ‘time’ as observables as well as the problem of the existence of hidden variables.
Afternoon tea will be provided at 3:30pm
Location
Seminar Room 1.33, Building 145, Science Road, ANU